Rebel Without A Claus

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

December 1st

The snow continues to gracefully falter to the ground and the mountain peaks are dressed in slow which dazzles in the light. A small wooden cottage lounges on the edge of the peak. Fumes escape the chimney and anyone would say that this is the way a gingerbread house will look in real life. It smells like home during the holidays...

The cottage is only the tip of the iceberg as no one except the family that lives there has been lucky to venture inside. The large mountain which holds the foundation of the vintage cottage is only a disguise. If  one would wander into the house, one would enter in a beautifully decorated living room area perfect for Christmas, however, it one would wander further and reach the stairs at they back, they would be overlooking a factory.

A factory headed by enchanted beings half the average human height, with pointy ears and mesmerizing eyes. They work like clockwork as they piece all the items passing over the conveyor belt. They work at immense speed and show no sign of exhaustion. The echo of sweet holiday carols can be heard all through the factory, even those at the foot of the mountain have claimed to have heard these songs.

The owner is none other than the man sitting at the head of the dining room table in the cottage. With a round tummy and white beard, he can only be known as Mr Claus. A sweet old women emerges from a sensuous smelling kitchen carrying a tray of roasted chicken which she puts in the center of the table before removing her pink oven mitts and taking a seat herself. Signature Mrs Claus as the only time anyone ever sees her is when there's a meal to be eaten or else she's inseparable from her ancient kitchen.

On either side of Mr Claus sits two very different siblings. His daughter, Sana sits to his left as usual while his son, Santa keeps to his right while digging into the mouth watering roast his mother has prepared. Sana watches her brother munch as if he hasn't seen food all his life. She can't help but wonder how they're related or why he ended up with the timekeeper. Her gaze is fixed on the old fashioned pocket watch which her brother has slipped onto a chain and now wears as a necklace.

"Biscuit, are you not going to eat?" The old women asks warmly but is only met with a disgruntled sigh from Sana as she slumps her plate before the roast and dishes out the smallest slice. It's obvious that there's tension in the room, no matter what time of the year it is, Santa and Sana always have a tense relationship.

"So are you keeping to schedule, my boy?" The old man says in between bites towards his son. He has already forgotten that this specific topic only leads to havoc at the dinner table.
"Yeah dad. We are already ahead of schedule so we should be able to take it slow." Santa says with a mouth full of food. At 18 years old, Sana can't believe her brother can still act like this and her eyes dart at her brother in disgust.

"And you, my dear? Have any plans for this year?" The old man looks to his daughter with hopeful eyes. Maybe this will be the year without problems.
"Same as every year dad." She smiles the most cunning of smiles making her brother bang his fork down on his plate making the room lose any sign of calamity.
"Why do you have to do this every damn year Sana? Do you know how hard I work?" His nose flares in anger and his eyes look as if he's about to spring from his seat at any moment.

"Well I have nothing better to do." Sana replies with an innocent smile which she uses to try and irritate her brother even more. Mr Claus clears his throat as if to bring attention back to dinner but his attempts are useless as Santa bangs his hands hard on the table in anger.

"Nothing better to do the, to steal presents from little kids. Presents this family has been making for centuries. That your family have done for so many years!" Santa has officially hit his breaking point and looks as if a vain might pop out from his forehead. Then Sana bangs her hands on the table and stands up with a forced smile.

"If it were a family tradition, then the timekeeper would be mine since I'm the oldest but since the world is familiar the Santa Claus, I guess we haven't kept to tradition. So I hope you don't mind if I want to have a little bit of fun while you turn into your 70 year old self." Then she skips off, content with all she has said to her room.

She packed a small suitcase for herself, as if she knew she would fight with her brother tonight. Then she gracefully walks back towards the dining room, her suitcase dragged behind her. Her jacket covers every inch of her body and she comes off as a marshmallow, a very unkind marshmallow at that.

"I'll see you on the 25th brother." She smiles and whips her hair around as if she hopes her ponytail will strike one of them. Then all they see is a ponytail of silver hair bob up and down as Sana makes her way further away from them.

Even as cold as she is, it's obvious that her brother is boiling. Every single year he is praised. He isn't well mannered nor does he know what he is doing most of the time. Why does he get the timekeeper? Why does he have the chance to chance his appearance and let the world fall in love with him. It's supposed to be Sana's.